DirtyLittleSecrets

I just finished using the Zombies 5k app at the end of my last challenge and I loved it. Looking forward to seeing how you enjoy it as well :-)

Looking forward to seeing what you cook :-). Good luck!

Would love to see pictures of the fort once it's completed :-). Using different equipment in your workouts is always smart, adds variety and keeps things interesting. Looking forward to seeing how fare this challenge as well!

Good luck on this challenge Melinda! Looking forward to seeing you do well again :-)

I like the studying 15 minutes a day goal. Are you learning French for a specific hobby or goal?

Your themes are always the best. Let's rock this one out :-D

12/09/13 Zombies, Run! App: Average pace = 5:58 per km. Evaded 2/4 zombie attacks. Not bad for my first run, loving the intervals but wish the voice was a little clearer. PushUps PRO- modified push ups 2-3-4-3-2 SitUps PRO- anchord 12- 10- 6- 6- 4-4 Squats PRO-bodyweight 10-8-6-5 Had an hour and a half to get my run done, circuit and ready for my next class/work. My friend was in town for the night so after work was dedicated to him. Hammered out my reps, minimal breaks with stretching in between when I needed them.

Sounds awesome! I know that looking good in beach pictures would be a huge motivator for me as well, especially since I would probably pick up a new swimsuit down there. Let's see how much we can rock this challenge, shall we?

Hey there :-). Welcome to our neck of the woods! The fact you're working towards a body weight snatch is impressive. Really looking forward to seeing how you perform this challenge and I'll be checking in every so often to see how you're rocking it out!

I hve chart with all of my planned workouts and for however many of the workouts I complete I achieve the stat points set out in the challenge. I know my next challenge has me practicing my driving for 6 hours. It's only an hour a week but something I find difficult since I don't have regular access to a vehicle. I'm going to have a chart and every time I complete a step in my goal I'll mark it off. I'm doing it as a grading system where if I have 32 workouts to complete and if I don't get at least 70% (do 22 workouts) I don't achieve that goal or get the stat points. That made it easier for me to track and a bit more motivating. I don't know if that helps but I hope it does!

I know I've seen a few people with completion bars in their signatures. I haven't played around with it personally but am looking into it for the next challenge

Hey girly! I'm glad to see the progress you're making in doing your circuits! The knee push ups are called modified push ups. Lunges and squats are tricky cause they both can cause knee pain if performed incorrectly. I personally hate lunges but they're good for keeping your balance and strengthening your lower body. With the dumbbell rows make sure you're following correct form and keeping your arms close to your body. You don't want any shoulder rotation, think of it like there's a pulley above you that's pulling your arm up in a straight line. If you feel like you can move on to doing a third circuit by all means move on! You can keep doing modified push ups and planks since the upper body tends to take longer to see noticeable strength gains. Just keep doing as many regular push ups with good form as you can and once your form starts to suffer switch to modified push ups. It's what I'm currently doing with my push ups and either way the muscles are getting worked and more practice with the movement. Love the motivations you've listed and your parents participation. It's good to have accountability in the forums as well as real life :-). I highly suggest doing circumference measurements and using before and after photos. You don't have to hate the stats/photos until you're comfortable with doing so, but they're a really good way to see if you're making progress or not. I'm looking forward to the next challenge as well as having you two keeping me honest. We're in this together :-)

Cat Cora doesn't have her own official cooking show like Rachel Ray does but she does own her own restaurants and is co-host of a couple shows featured on the Food Network. Not saying that because I have the biggest girl crush on her but.....

^ That, that right there. My sister is epileptic and the medication she needs to be on to control her seizures made her gain a lot of weight. When she first went on it she gained 75 pounds. She was able to lose some of it but unless she resorts to extreme dieting or exercising she'll always be in the overweight category. She's fine with the weight, she has a clean bill of health from her specialist and her family doctor, and she lives a healthy and active lifestyle. She just doesn't look the way society thinks someone healthy should look ie. thin.

I'm glad you recognized it was affecting how you felt instead of internalizing it! For a long time when I was a teenager I used something similar called thinspiration. It didn't jibe well with my body type (I'm always going to have large breasts and hips , I can't diet away my hip bone and besides surgery nothing will ever make me an A cup) and I was a lot happier once I realized those images weren't healthy or realistic. I believe everyone has the capability of looking like a fitness model. My weight was all over the board in high school and now every time I run into my old classmates they wonder how I changed so much. It took years to get to this point. Those years were full of a lot of work, trial and error and figuring out what worked best for me. I'm not there but eventually I could be a fitness model. I just actively choose not to be because that's a lot more work for something I don't want. I would rather spend that time doing things I enjoy and find more important.

Body shaming is not an effective tool in guiding people to a healthier lifestyle. It doesn't take into account what they're currently doing because you can't see the results, you just see their body as it is now. Making people feel like they should be ashamed for letting their bodies get that "bad" can lead them to believe they're powerless to change because it attacks their feelings of self-efficacy. Comments about how fat people are disgusting, gross, and eyesores creates a hostile environment. It perpetuates stereotypes, enforces discrimination and makes it more difficult for people that want help to feel like they deserve it or can change. No one should ever feel like they have less of a right to be in a gym, on the sidewalk, in a grocery store, at a restaurant or the doctors. If you feel better about your body or morally superior to someone because they're fat, you should be the one that's ashamed and start to consider why you feel that way. The only person you should judge is yourself and the only person you should judge yourself against is who you were. Circumstances are everything. Something that is easy to you now can be astronomically challenging to another.

I like to think I'm pretty media literate. I understand when advertising/popular media is trying to shame me into buying a product or buy into a certain lifestyle. So as a result I have a love/hate relationship with fitspiration. For those of you who don't know, fitspiration is pictures or images of sayings that help motivate people to complete their workouts or eat better. I love it because sometimes it can be really help push me or remind me why I'm becoming more fit in the first place. So when I was reading my regular blogs online today I was so happy to stumble onto this: Thank God someone else feels the same way I'm all for positive fitspiration like this... There's some stuff circulating out there that makes me feel downright nauseous thinking my niece could be developing her body image based off of this. I'm not saying I don't agree with the sentiment on her t-shirt. Being strong and capable should be the extolled and that's one I want my niece to learn. I don't want her to learn that being thin AND strong is the new standard. I want her to know that objectification of a woman's body by just presenting her as parts instead of a whole person is wrong and she doesn't need to have a low enough body fat percentage to show muscle. She should also know that objectifying guys in the same manner is just as toxic and unnecessary. Motivation is necessary and awesome. It helps you get to your goals and can be a fun way of connecting with people. But are the motivational tools you're using healthy? Do they make you feel bad about yourself? Are the images that are portrayed obtainable goals or are they shining examples of the ability of Photoshop, lighting and makeup to create amazing images? Self acceptance and positive self esteem are important in creating lasting lifelong healthy habits. What do you think Rebels? What images do you use to keep you going and what ones made you cringe?

Just think it's a good standard of fitness I want to achieve. I'm Canadian so I can't join the Marines without jumping through a ton of hoops

I'm getting the Firefly quote I have in my signature! Left shoulder blade. It reminds me never to give up and that I'm able to rely on the people that helped get me here with my success. Awesome on the half sleeve, I think they look gorgeous! She probably though it was a much farther away goal when you first said it lol. Give her a bit of opinion on what you're going to get and make sure the cost doesn't affect household budgeting too much. I'm saving up for mine as we speak. Just a $20 each paycheck, but I'll eventually get there.

http://nerdfitnessrebellion.com/index.php?/topic/36439-dirtys-little-log-book/ Started my own battle log! Not off to the best start but it is something lol.

10/09/13: Completed final Zombies, Run! mission for the second time. Stopped the workout and resumed it a few minutes later while I was toweling off (got caught in a thunder storm) and I ended up losing my stats. Forgot I had Nike + running in the background and finally paused it after I was done changing. Pacing is skewed as a result. I know I completed my 5k in under 30. From Nike + - 4.12 miles in 54:06.

Main Quest: Pass the Marines Physical Fitness Test with maximum scoring. What does this main quest entail? Being able to do 8 pull upsRun 3 miles in 21 minutes (4.82 km in 21 minutes)Do 100 crunches in 2 minutesI'm lucky enough that my main quest has three separate compartments that I can focus on and add on as I go. Each 6 week challenge will have me adding on another component to the one I've already mastered and hopefully in three cycles I'll have succeeded. The time limit I've set is by January 1st, 2014 with an alternate as May 1st, 2014 depending on what life throws at me. Reward? When I achieve this goal I'm getting a tattoo. I've always wanted one on my left upper shoulder and want it as a constant source of my pride and a reminder of what I achieved. Battle Log: The start of the next challenge (September 16th) will have my starting measurements for body fat percentage, circumference, workout log (including run times & workout weights/reps). This will help me stay accountable in my next challenge by tracking my workouts thoroughly and allowing my accountability buddies access to what I'm doing.

Glad to see you're feeling better! Being sick sucks, I normally drink a lot of honey lemon tea with a bit of honey in it. Soothing and it helps clear everything out. Don't push yourself too hard, I know that made my strep throat worse!

Be brave. You just need enough to get you to the starting line, then after that your body will do the rest. You're training for this, you're going to do awesome. You're going to set a record that when you're done you'll be super proud of and then you're going to smash it to pieces in the future. And when you're done you totally get bragging rights here